


always been my north star

by My_King_And_Your_Lionheart



Series: Keith Genuary 2019 [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: And What It Takes To Get Ready For Them, Drama queens, Family Dinners, Gen, Reference to Naxela, hair cutting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 00:11:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17293964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_King_And_Your_Lionheart/pseuds/My_King_And_Your_Lionheart
Summary: Keith does what he can, because Matt is his brother in all but blood, and Keith can do this for him.





	always been my north star

**Author's Note:**

> y'all can pry brotp katt from my cold, decaying hands
> 
> Fic title from Patricia by Florence and the Machine
> 
> Enjoy!

“Keith?” It’s Pidge, and she pulls him back from where he’d been training. “Are you coming?”

“Yeah, I’ll come by yours for dinner tonight.” Pidge smiled, the quirk at the corner of her mouth barely noticeable unless you knew to look for it. “Is there a dress standard?” Keith hoped not. All he had was his Garrison issue clothes, and the ones he went to space in. And his Blade uniform, or his paladin armor, but those weren’t really dinner apparel. Pidge shook her head.

“No, just don’t wear something you’ll mind getting dog hair on. And dinner is at 18:00, sharp, so don’t be late.” Keith nodded.

“And have your mother to explain myself to? I’d rather punch Iverson’s other eye out.” Pidge barked a laugh before turning and leaving the training deck. Her hand waved behind her, but Keith didn’t bother responding. He just let his bayard revert to its basic form before letting it morph into his armor. He’d better get ready, just so he had enough time.

It didn’t take long to clean up the remains of the training bots, which were already pulling themselves back together for the next person who wanted to use them. Keith checked the time at the big clock by the door. 16:43. Oh, he definitely had enough time, even if he took a little longer in the shower. It was only when he left the training deck and ran into Matt that he realized this dinner was going to be much more involved than he agreed to.

“Keith, there you are! You’re coming tonight, right?” Keith blinked a couple times, surprised, but nodded. Matt put his hands on Keith’s shoulders. “Good. What are you wearing?”

“My Garrison uniform, probably. Why?” Matt shook him a little.

“No. No no no no. You are wearing something nice, because I’m going to be wearing something nice, and so is Shiro. So. You have to wear something nice.” Keith let out a monotone hum, but Matt shook him out of it. “Me and Shiro are raiding closets, so you’re now in on it.” Matt used the grip he already had on Keith to slide one arm around his shoulder and steering him to the barracks.

“Matt- what?” Matt kept pulling him along, and Keith was stumbling to keep up with him, the two years of height growth he had barely helping him.

“We’re not actually raiding anything. Except for all of my old stuff, seeing what still fits. I’m hoping for something, but we’ve both grown, haven’t we?” Matt’s smile didn’t look all that happy, but Keith had no clue what to say to change that. He just let Matt pull him into his room and shove him in the direction of the closet.

“Wait, Matt, I still have to shower. I just finished training and-” Matt cut him off.

“Yeah, yeah, you smell like you’ve been there for hours. Just take mine, but be quick. Mom wants us there on time, which really means ten minutes early.” Keith caught the towel that Matt threw at him and made for the bathroom.

When he came out, Matt had several shirts and pants laid out on the bed, pulling some close to each other, tossing others into the growing pile on the foot of the bed. Keith tightened the towel around his waist, suddenly self-conscious of the scars he had in a way he hadn’t been in a long time, because all of the other paladins had them, too. And Matt probably did, but he hadn’t been there when Keith had gotten most of them, not the way the team had been.

“Here.” Matt tossed him a pair of boxer briefs and a white undershirt. Keith opened his mouth, because _gross_ Matt, but, “They’re yours. I texted Shiro and had him break into your room. Well, it’s not really breaking in when you told him the key code.” Keith shut his mouth with a click and pulled the boxers on under the towel, pulling it off only once his underwear was secure. The towel then went to his hair, making sure the worst of the dripping was handled before pulling the shirt over his head.

“Thanks. I guess.” Keith wasn’t sure how he felt about the not-really burglary, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Matt kept tossing shirts this way and that before he went to the closet again and came back with nothing.

“This is it. The first time I’ll be sitting down to dinner with my family in years, and I have nothing to wear.” Matt fell face forward onto his bed, though it was barely visible underneath all the clothes. “This is a disaster.” Keith couldn’t help but laugh. This was Matt, acting his age again after the war they had both been through. According to Pidge, this was the boy that had literally faked his own death, and gotten away with it. Keith reached out to rub at his shoulder.

“I’m sure you can scrape something together, Matt. What I’m not sure about is that hair.” Matt lifted himself with his arms and turned to fix Keith with a scathing look.

“My hair is the problem between the two of us? I think not.” Keith laughed at his face. “Though…” He reached up a hand to comb through it, pulling at the split ends a little bit. “Uh, Keith? Would you mind cutting my hair?” Keith gapes, a little.

“Are you sure? It’s been a while since I’ve done that.” A lot more than a while, if Keith’s being honest, but Matt’s eyebrows are already coming together in that serious way of his.

“Yes. I know it might seem silly, but,” Matt looks away from him, down to where his hands are clasped in his lap, “I just want to feel a little normal. Even if it’s just for tonight.” He let out a heavy breath, and, boy, could Keith relate.

“Yeah, Matt. I can cut your hair.” Matt lets out another breath, though this one sounds slightly shaky. “Come on, we don’t have much time.” It’s a nudge, but one that works, gets Matt up and moving towards the bathroom. He pulls an electric razor out from under the sink, and Keith grabs it and gestures for Matt to sit on the toilet seat.

Keith passes the razor from hand to hand, judging the weight, before looking over the length guards. “So how short do you want it?” Matt swallows.

“Nothing too crazy, I think. Maybe just shave it on the sides, but leave the top a little longer? A crew cut, but like, not that short?” Keith can work with that, and grabs a few different colored guards.

“Don’t worry, I think I’ve got it. Now, just relax.” And Matt does his best, Keith can tell. But it’s one thing to be ready for a haircut and another to feel a buzzing blade close in on the back of your neck after spending time in an active war zone. Keith doesn’t say anything when Matt tenses up enough at the first touch of metal that his shoulders are close to touching his ears. He just keeps going, rubbing Matt’s scalp free of hair as he shaves it off.

“Hey, Keith?” Keith hums to show he’s listening, but most of his concentration is still on Matt’s hair. “Thanks. For this. And. For everything, I guess.” Matt’s voice is stilted and rough, enough so that Keith turns off the electric razor and sets it next to the sink.

“Of course, Matt. But, are you okay?” And Matt turns around, eyes wet but no tears yet to speak of.

“I just. I had a nightmare last night. About Naxela.” And Keith had thought they’d gotten past this, had had this talk with him after the actual event, but apparently Matt still has thoughts about it. He’s got to cut Matt some slack though. Keith does have an extra two years between now and then that no one else there has got.

“Oh, Matt.” Matt surges forwards, nearly knocking Keith back into the wall, and it’s all he can do to hug Matt back, though not nearly as tight.

“I know, okay. I know we got it all out there, and everything, but last night. Last night you _died_. And I had to be the one to tell them.” It’s no question who _they_ are, and Keith has no doubt that the nightmare was terrifying. “God, Keith, there wasn’t even any of you to bury.”

“It was just a dream, Matt. I’m right here. And I’ll always try to be.” Matt keeps hugging him, but Keith suspects that might have more to do with how he’s trying to wipe his eyes behind Keith’s back. It doesn’t quite work, so he pulls away to grab some toilet paper to use as a tissue.

“You can, uh, keep going. I’m good.” And Keith doubts that, but none of them have been ‘good’ in such a long time, so he picks up the razor and gets back to work. By the time he’s done, he thinks Matt looks passable for the dinner, and Matt’s mostly back to himself. Back to himself enough to go through all of his shirts a second time before deciding he does actually have something to wear, but at that point they’re almost late for the dinner. 

Keith winds up wearing his Garrison uniform.


End file.
